Sightlines Introduces Consultative Facilities Intelligence Solutions for Small College Campuses

GUILFORD, CT--(Marketwired - Feb 26, 2015) - Sightlines, a leader in helping academic institutions better manage their facilities and capital investment strategies, has introduced a new service line designed specifically to help higher education executives at small college campuses better mitigate risk, optimize resources and maximize the value of every dollar spent on facilities.

The initial offering in Sightlines' new Small Campus Solutions line is a comprehensive facilities investment analysis that will enable facilities executives to make better data-driven decisions about capital expenditures and present a credible long-term strategy to their senior leadership teams.

"Sightlines has helped campuses of all sizes change the conversation around facilities management and we know that facilities investment levels are of primary importance to small campuses," said Mark Schiff, president and chief executive officer of Sightlines. "This is our first offering in what we anticipate will be a portfolio of facilities intelligence solutions custom-designed for small colleges in the U.S. and Canada. In addition to the valuable data that we are able to make available, what differentiates our offering for small campuses is that Sightlines professionals consult with executives to help shape the development of their facilities management strategies and guide their communications with their boards of trustees regarding future budget requirements."

According to Schiff, the facilities investment analysis will help executives at small campuses by answering five key questions:

• How much should I be investing in facilities each year?
• Have my historical investments levels been appropriate?
• How have I performed relative to my peers?
• How can I manage facilities risks in the most effective manner?
• How do I demonstrate a credible investment plan to institutional leadership?

Last year, Sightlines helped Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont initiate a groundbreaking reserve fund for facilities renewal. On the 700,000 square foot campus, more than $1 million will be placed aside each year in anticipation of future lifecycle needs. David Provost, senior vice president at Champlain, credits Sightlines predictive analytics with creating a proactive dialogue and a new conversation around facilities.

"We are excited that more institutions like Champlain will have access to the expertise Sightlines has provided," said Provost. "Our new president was 'blown away' by the rigor of the analysis and the level of alignment it has created between our board and administration when it comes to physical plant."

The facilities investment analysis offering is powered by Sightlines' ROPA+, a proprietary service offering that helps colleges and universities transform their approach to facilities management. ROPA+, a next-generation service that is an evolution of Sightlines' proprietary Return-On-Physical-Assets (ROPA) planning model, brings the concepts of proven financial management tools -- portfolio balance, diversification and risk management -- to the facilities management world.

Equipped with data from more than 25,000 campus buildings from across the U.S. and Canada, Sightlines helps institutions plan, prioritize and manage facilities maintenance and upgrades so they can get the most mileage out of limited funds.

"As we roll out additional components of this new service line in 2015, Sightlines' Small Campus Solutions will offer deep insight with three interrelated processes -- Discovery, Prediction and Performance -- so higher education executives can confidently make the case for change by eliminating the guesswork," said Schiff.

About Sightlines
Founded in 2000, Sightlines gives colleges and universities the independent data and perspective they need to make critical decisions about their most valuable assets -- their facilities. Sightlines stewards the industry's most extensive verified database, allowing more than 450 institutions across the U.S. and Canada to benchmark an institution's facilities against universities and colleges across the nation. Sightlines' flagship offering for members is ROPA+, a fully integrated solution for facilities intelligence that leads members through a comprehensive process of discovery, prediction and performance measurement. Other Sightlines solutions provide higher ed executives with insights to assist with capital planning, space management and campus sustainability initiatives. For more information, please call 203.682.4952, go to http://www.sightlines.com or email insights@sightlines.com.